Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneTulane defensive end Austen Jacks returns a fumble for a touchdown, the Green Wave's first defensive score in two years, against SMU on Saturday. The score gave Tulane a 17-3 lead in a game it lost 31-17.

Wacha, a senior safety, can’t get over how close the Green Wave came from righting its developing program with a signature victory against a Conference USA West Division co-leader. Tulane led 17-3 with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter after a big defensive play. End Austen Jacks had just returned a fumble for six points, the first defensive score for Tulane in two years.

“The game was in our hands,” Wacha said. “Then you give up four touchdowns in the fourth quarter after giving up three quarters of just lights-out football on defense.”

No team had kept the Mustangs without a touchdown for a half this season. Tulane allowed only a field goal in the first half, then stifled SMU for the better part of three quarters before allowing four consecutive touchdowns from the end of the third to the final whistle.

And it still stung Tuesday, when select players and Coach Bob Toledo gathered for the weekly press conference.

“It blows my mind. I still don’t know how it happened,” Wacha said. “It’s not like we were out there exhausted or anything like that. ... We made some adjustments. ... Some of the time, maybe we didn’t get those done, but still there’s no excuse. Four straight touchdowns. They were just like that (he snapped his fingers). It wasn’t like they drove it down our throats on 20-play drives.

“It’s inexcusable, especially at a time like that — when you are up by 14 points with an opportunity to be .500 for the first time since you know, I don’t even know when. I don’t know. It’s hard.”

On Tuesday, younger players such as freshman running back Orleans Darkwa, who come from winning high school programs, were trying to cope with the fourth-quarter swoon. Older players such as Wacha were beating themselves up over what might have been.

“Looking at the past and looking at now, I’ve never been in this position at this point in the season, and seeing it kind of slip away in a game like that is just ... ,” Wacha trailed off before adding: “The season is still not over. ... The opportunity is still there; our margin of error just goes down, obviously.”

The Green Wave will try to rebound mentally and physically when hosting Southern Mississippi on Saturday in the Superdome. So far this season, Tulane has shown signs of growing up. It has won games it wasn’t expected to (road victories versus Rutgers and Texas-El Paso). It has lost games arguably it shouldn’t have (Army and SMU). And with three more home games and the regular-season finale on the road, who knows what direction the program will take from here.

“We’re inconsistent,” Toledo said. “We show signs of brilliance sometimes, and then we show signs where it’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ I was asked, ‘Are you frustrated?’ I’m past that. I’m just disappointed right now, and I’m disappointed with our consistency. Obviously you get frustrated. Obviously you get angry. But I’m past that. Let’s just be consistent. We are a better football team, and we show signs of it, but we’re not showing signs of consistency. That’s the thing we need to do a better job of. We need to be more consistent play in, play out, game in and game out.”

Line shuffle: Right tackle Eric Jones has another ankle sprain, and it’s unknown if he will be cleared to play Saturday. He was in a boot Tuesday.

Tulane might re-shuffle rather than inserting backup tackle L.J. Abrams. Harris Howard could move from left guard to right tackle. Zach Morgan would switch from right guard to left guard and Emmanuel Aluko would start at right guard.

Trent Mackey sprained his knee in the SMU game. He has missed some practice because of it, but participated in some of Tuesday’s practice and is still listed at the middle linebacker starting spot.

Finding a balance: One of the Green Wave’s biggest problems against SMU was its inability to pass effectively. Quarterback Ryan Griffin only threw the ball six times in the first half, but when SMU scored in two-minute bursts in the hectic fourth quarter, the Green Wave looked more to its passing game. Griffin passed for 55 yards in the fourth quarter, but Tulane’s final four drives ended with two punts, an interception and once on downs.

Part of it can be chalked up to SMU’s defense. At times, the Mustangs dropped eight players in coverage, making it difficult for Griffin to find open receivers.

But Toledo said it wasn’t all the coverage. “I don’t think Ryan (Griffin) played his best game, and he’ll tell you that,” Toledo said. “There were some guys open. Because of his (non-throwing arm injury), maybe he’s not practicing as much. He’s lost a little bit fundamentally on some things. He’s not hanging in the pocket and throwing the ball like he has to. We had some guys open sometimes, and he’s taking too many steps. His fundamentals are deteriorating, because on Monday he doesn’t practice because he’s beat up and hurt with his shoulder. As a young guy, we expect him to do these things. But he needs reps like anyone else. I don’t think he performed as well as he is capable of performing.”

Griffin said it was hard to watch the tape because he didn’t play well. But it was instructive. “I definitely learned a lot of where I could have gone with the ball,” Griffin said. “It was definitely a big learning experience for everyone.”